Women's national team hosts Turkey on Saturday

The Malta women’s national team will be hosting Turkey in another match from Group 5 of the FIFA Women’s World Cup at the Centenary Stadium on Saturday, kick-off at 15:00.

This will be the fourth game for Malta in the group. Following two heavy defeats to Spain at Ta’ Qali in September and European championship finalists England away from home in October, Malta did quite well in a 0-2 defeat to Austria in November.

Turkey, on the other hand, played two matches at home, losing 0-5 to Spain and 0-3 to England.

This will be the second game between the two countries after Turkey defeated Malta 3-0 in a UEFA Women’s Mini-Tournament in July 2008 in Estonia.

The players currently forming part of the provisional squad under the guidance of coach Pierre Brincat and his assistant Mark Gatt are:
goalkeepers Sharon Costantino, Nina Dimech (Birkirkara);
defenders Maria Azzopardi (Hibs), Rebecca Chircop (Mosta), Rebecca D’Agostino (Mosta), Marisa Deguara (Mosta), Natasha Pace (Mosta), Kim Parnis (Birkirkara), Charlene Zammit (Hibs);
midfielders Catherine Camilleri (Birkirkara), Rachael Cuschieri (Birkirkara), Mandy Debono (Hibs), Dorianne Theuma (Mosta), Corissa Vella (Hibs);
forwards Kathleen Saliba (Hibs), Ylenia Carabott (Raiders), Emma Xuereb (Gozo), Gabriella Zahra (Melita).

Malta vs Turkey will be controlled by Russian referee Irina Tereshchenko who will be assisted by assistant referees Anna Gnevysheva and Elena Nuykina. Glenn Tonna will be the fourth official.

Next month, Malta will be travelling to Turkey for a game scheduled on April 11. Pierre Brincat’s side then hosts England on May 20 before two final games against Austria on June 9 and Spain on June 24, both game away from home.

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